CES 2004: Technology Trends

HDTV is the big news but other technology trends lurked just beneath the surface at this year's CES. Loyd Case takes a look at some of the key tech trends driving the consumer electronics business in the coming year.

Except for the legion of union members working to tear down and pack up, this year's CES is but a memory now. Some 4,000 members of the media tromped around the show, writing up products, listening to PR spiels, guzzling bottled water to stay hydrated, and, every now and then, sitting a spell to relieve sore feet.

Like an iceberg, however, the products you've read about are really just the visible tip of what looks to be a serious sea change going on in the consumer electronics business. The issue of "convergence"  that melding of the CE and PC businesses  is moving rapidly, though no clear standards have yet emerged on how it will all play together.

The mass of the iceberg that lies under the surface, though, reveals some fascinating insights about what will be important over the coming year, and even beyond that. The key trends include:

About the Author

Loyd Case came to computing by way of physical chemistry. He began modestly on a DEC PDP-11 by learning the intricacies of the TROFF text formatter while working on his master's thesis. After a brief, painful stint as an analytical chemist, he took over a laboratory network at Lockheed in the early 80's and never looked back. His first "real" compu... See Full Bio

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